Kansas at TCU coverage

TCU defeats Kansas, 27-17

FINAL: KU's offense woeful again in 27-17 loss to TCU

The Kansas football team's defense and special teams forced five turnovers, but even that wasn't enough to overcome incompetent offense in the Jayhawks' 27-17 loss to TCU on Saturday afternoon at Fort Worth, Texas.

KU's offense — without receiver Tony Pierson, who sat out with a head injury — was even worse than normal. The Jayhawks notched just 198 yards and 3.3 yards per play. They also rushed 34 times for just 46 yards.

KU managed a 10-all tie at halftime, thanks mostly to KU defensive back JaCorey Shepherd, who had a 32-yard interception return for touchdown in the second quarter.

For the second straight week, though, KU was haunted by the first play of scrimmage of the second half, as TCU's David Porter bounced off two KU defenders and ran 75 yards for a receiving touchdown to give the Horned Frogs a 17-10 lead they'd never relinquish.

KU quarterback Jake Heaps was inaccurate all day, completing 13 of 26 passes for 152 yards with a touchdown and interception. James Sims carried it 23 times for 81 yards with a lost fumble.

HOW THEY SCORED

First Quarter

10:01 — Matthew Wyman 37 field goal. After its opening drive of the game stalled near midfield, the Kansas offense got the Jayhawks a lead for the second straight week thanks to an interception by Isaiah Johnson on TCU's first offensive play of the game. Johnson caught a tipped pass at the TCU 25 and the KU offense drove six yards in four plays and 1:27 to crack the scoreboard first. (KU 3, TCU 0).

6:50 — Trevone Boykin 10 run. Jaden Oberkrom kick. After turning it over on their first possession, the Horned Frogs marched 63 yards in six plays and 3:04 to take the lead. Quarterback Trevone Boykin was 2-for-2 passing on the drive, including a 22-yard strike to David Porter, and running back B.J. Catalon added a 22-yard run to set up the touchdown. (TCU 7, KU 3).

Second Quarter

11:44 — Jaden Oberkrom 44 field goal. The Horned Frogs marched deep into KU territory for their second score of the day but were forced to settle for a long field goal attempt after the Jayhawks knocked the Frogs back on back-to-back plays to turn a second-and-short into a fourth-and-long. Kevin Young and Victor Simmons combined for a sack of Boykin and Isaiah Johnson sniffed out a screen pass for the other loss. (TCU 10, KU 3).

8:55 — JaCorey Shepherd 32 interception return. Wyman kick. After TCU intercepted Jake Heaps at its 10 yard line, the Jayhawks bounced back with an interception of their own, this one by cornerback JaCorey Shepherd, who jumped in front of a pass along the KU sideline and raced 32 yards to the end zone untouched to the tie the game. (TCU 10, KU 10).

Third Quarter

14:47 — David Porter 75 pass from Trevone Boykin. Oberkrom kick. The Horned Frogs gained half of their total yardage from the first half in one play during the second, as the first play from scrimmage went the distance after two KU defenders dove at Porter's legs but did not wrap up and then watched him sprint untouched the rest of the way. (TCU 17, KU 10).

9:31 — B.J. Catalon 2 run. Oberkrom kick. The good news for the KU defense on this drive was that it made the Horned Frogs take a little longer to score. The bad news? It was not much prettier. TCU drove 53 yards in seven plays after taking possession following a James Sims fumble on KU's first possession of the second half. TCU scored in seven plays and 4:12. (TCU 24, KU 10).

7:28 — Jimmay Mundine 27 pass from Jake Heaps. Wyman kick. Two plays after KU kicked the ball back to TCU trailing 24-10, the Jayhawks cut the lead to a single touchdown thanks to a muffed punt by Brandon Carter and the nice hook-up from Heaps and Mundine. John Wirtel recovered the muffed punt and, two plays and 11 seconds later, Heaps hit Mundine on a corner route and the big tight end fought into the end zone. (TCU 24, KU 17).

Fourth Quarter

2:43 — Jaden Oberkrom 37 field goal. It was not pretty and it came much later than many expected it would, but the Horned Frogs finally dealt KU the knockout blow with a 10-play scoring drive that spanned 45 yards and 4:53 and put the home team up two scores with less than three minutes to play. TCU's drive, like so many in the second half before it, started with good field position because of the KU offense's inability to flip the field. (TCU 27, KU 17).

Everybody and their dog saw that last offestive play coming. Weis is an idiot. Absolutely no finesse. Making his living on Brady's arm and Gurnhard and Hopspple need to start packing their bags. They've haven't contributed one iota to the development of this offense. It's actually gotten worse after they lost Mangino's recruits.

Going into the game, if you told me we would have lost by only 10 I would have taken it. We have the defense to thank for that performance. My concerns about the offense are innumerable, and I dont know how you fix it with the personnel that you have, particularly on the line and at QB.

Seriously? 7 points down and you want to go for it deep in their territory? If you fail, the game is outu of reach, and your offense hasnt been doing anything. This is a no-brainer. The punt was the right thing to do. And its not even close.